


Pierce Family Repairs

by Fever_Induced



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, but not romantically involved besides the kids, noah and carmen are precious, single mom Santana, the pierce family is huge and warm and friendly and perf, with baby daddy Puck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-17 14:19:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5873797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fever_Induced/pseuds/Fever_Induced
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brittany Pierce and her siblings work for their father in a family repair company ranging from handy-work all the way to design. The Lopez household seems to be falling apart with problem after problem arising and the only ones that can handle it all are the Pierces. What happens when Brittany takes a liking to a certain Latina mother of two?<br/>Details on what's going on in their lives will be a little odd at first, but right off the bat I'll make clear that the main girls are not in high school anymore, they're definitely older than that. Everything else will start a mystery and then slowly fall into place, enjoy reading.<br/>Rated Mature for adult themes. Slow burn fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Original Publish Date: 5/21/2014

 

"Noah!" A raspy voice called through the house. "I hear splashing! What did I tell you about running the bath without me?"

"Mami, I didn't," a young male voice called back. Santana Lopez peered into the bathroom where her five year old son was sitting. In a puddle of water.

"Aye dios mio, Noah. What have you done?" She shook her head, adjusting the sleepy girl on her hip. Santana stepped into the small space, lowering her hand and patting her son on the head, rubbing his neatly trimmed Mohawk, he'd wanted one after looking at old pictures of his father.

"I wanted to sail my boat! But you said I couldn't make a bath by myself, so I used the toilet!" He explained, beaming up at her and flashing a wide grin, dimples and all.

Santana faltered, offering her own small smile. How could she be angry when he was smiling at her like that. "C'mon, you're soaked Mijo, get out of those clothes and get ready for a real bath, okay?"

Noah pouted for a moment but after a firm look from his mother he reluctantly began stripping free of his clothes and fiddling with the knobs for the bath tub now that he had supervision. Santana have his head another pat, before turning her attention to her daughter and giving her chubby cheeks a few kisses to wake her up. "Carmen," she cooed, "Bath time, sweetheart."

The bundle of attitude in her arms squirmed, her tiny fists rubbing at her eyes and then mocha orbs pinched partially shut as she stared at her mother. "Mami," she started, pausing to yawn, "No bath!" the toddler harrumphed.

"Yes bath," her mother cooed, brushing their noses together in an eskimo kiss. The young girl giggled, pushing at Santana's cheeks while smiling. "Sticky little girls and boys need to get cleaned up before bed," the older Latina reminded her daughter, turning her head to feign munching on her hands, "Or the monsters will lick their hands clean at night!"

The little girl squealed and twisted violently while Santana laughed softly and set her on the ground. "No monsters!" Carmen yelled, eyes wide as she looked pleadingly up at her mother.

"Well then it seems like you need to take a bath then, huh?" She smirked as her daughter pouted and wobbled towards the bath tub. Three years old and not incredibly steady on her feet, it worried Santana but mostly because she was paranoid about everything when it came to the two loves of her life.

"Done!"

Santana blinked, turning towards her son to see him beaming at her already sitting in the tub which was filled with water and bubbles. "Good job Mijo," she cooed, "You're a master bath maker! You're gunna teach Carmen someday right?" He nodded vigorously as Santana knelt and helped her daughter out of her dress so that she could join her brother.

Noah was splashing his boat around and when a wave crashed over the side of the tub, onto Santana's lap she scowled, a firm, "Noah," leaving her lips.

The boy froze, turning his attention to his mom, quickly realizing his mistake his lips turned into a sheepish smile. "Sorry Mami, I'll be more careful."

She flashed him a smile, though it quickly turned to a frown when she noticed something missing as she lifted Carmen over the lip and into the warm water. "Hey bud, where'd the other boat go?"

"It sunk," he said cheerily, pushing the boat in his hand towards his sister who tried to grab at it.

Santana scrunched her eyebrows together. "Mijo, where did it sink?"

"The ocean!" He told her, eyes bright and shining as he went on, "There was a super huge storm and it got too much water and it sunk to the ocean floor like blub-blub blub" he demonstrated with his current toy, before pulling it above the water and rocking it on the surface, "The rescue boat didn't make it to help."

Santana narrowed her eyes, tilting her head to the side. "We haven't been to the ocean," she murmured, eyeing him warily.

He rolled those eyes in a fashion so similar to her usual eye roll, that it had her heart clenching, "Duh, Mami. It's pretend! Don't be silly." His laughter was contagious and it got Carmen giggling too.

But Santana still knelt at the edge, chewing her lip thoughtfully. After a few minutes her dark eyes turned towards the toilet in the corner, surrounded by a puddle. She groaned and crawled over, peering into the bowl to find the tip of a mast pointing out from the bottom. "Oh, Noah," she sighed, returning to her kids to start with their soapy rub-down. "You can't shove things in the toilet like that okay? You know it doesn't belong there. If you want to sink your ships you have to wait until bath time so that they don't get stuck anywhere."

"Bad Noah!" Carmen called out, giggling as Santana scrubbed under her armpit.

The boy pouted up at his mom and she gave a half-smile back at him. "Don't worry, bud, just don't do it again. I'll try and get it out later." He slowly smiled back at her and she ruffled his hair. "Now let's get this shaggy squirrel washed!" She teased, pouring water over his head causing his to spit out water as he laughed.

"It's not shaggy!" he squealed, batting away his mother's hands as she rubbed shampoo into his hair, so that he could do it himself. "Daddy just took me to cut it, you know that!"

"Oh, yes," she drew out the words dramatically. Santana turned her attention to her daughter, asking her to tilt her head back, and cupped the girl's eyes pouring a few cups of water over her head to wet her hair. "I remember. He brought you home with a tummy ache because you ate too much ice cream."

Noah flashed a proud smile and she laughed at him, scratching her fingertips against Carmen's scalp and rubbing the shampoo deep into her hair. "It was so good Mami! We need to go again soon!"

She rolled her eyes good naturedly, "Sure, Mijo, maybe this weekend. We can all go to the park and go on the swings, then grab some ice cream. You too, Mija."

Both children threw their hands up and cheered, talking about the flavors they wanted right away, making their mother laugh. "Alright, alright, calm your tiny tushes. We've got plenty of time to decide."

The rest of the bath went by quickly, laughing and splashing together like the happy family they are. Santana was toweling off Carmen and letting the tub drain when a set of giggles drew her attention to her damn sun, butt-naked and dashing out of the bathroom. "Get back here you little punk!" She called over her shoulder, "You didn't brush your teeth!"

"Hold on Mami!"

Santana rolled her eyes, leaning down and tilting her daughter's head to meet her eye, whispering, "You better listen better than he does when you're five." The girl just giggles, her smile straining her chubby cheeks.

Noah comes skidding to a halt in the doorway, hands on his hips and dressed ridiculously. Santana can't contain her laughter at the sight. His Mohawk was sticking up in all different places and the mask on his face was crooked. "Batman huh?" She giggled, raising an eyebrow.

Noah pumped his arms into the air, saying, "Heck yeah!" He grabbed the edge of the cape and pulled it around to obscure half of his face and growled from behind it, "I am a symbol of fear."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Your father is letting you watch too many movies."

Noah grins and saunters through the bathroom past his mother, who pinches his butt right on the bright yellow bat symbol, making him squeak, "Mami stop! I'm brushin' my teeth!"

"Good," she says between giggles, wrapping Carmen in the towel and hoisting her into the air and announcing, "Pajamas!" The brunette toddler grinned down at her mother and Santana's heart never failed to warm at the sight.

Little Carmen Lopez wiggled her arms out of her towel and held them out. Santana acquiesced the silent plea and pulled the little girl into her arms, hugging her tight as she walked out of the bathroom. "Get those back molars, Mijo," she reminded him, hearing a small grunt in return.

Once in Carmen's room, Santana playfully tossed the girl onto the bottom bunk, tickling her pudgy tummy. When the toddler could barely manage to push at her mother's hands and her face was red from laughing so hard, Santana relented, smiling and content with her life. She pulled away, waltzing to the dresser asking, "Which PJs baby-girl?

"Tinkerbell!" Was the instantaneous, though breathless, reply.

Santana chuckled softly and rifled around the assortment of clothes until she found the large purple t-shirt with the fair emblazoned on the front. "Alright, arms up!" When her daughter followed the hint, Santana swooped over and slipped the top onto her tiny form, giving her cheek a smooch after it popped through the collar. "Now run along to your brother so he can help you brush your teeth." Carmen was already on the floor running, before Santana could finished, she sighed, calling out, "Don't run! And watch the water in the bathroom!" She smirked to herself, hearing her daughter's footsteps soften to a walk.

Santana pulled back the sheets on the top and bottom bunks so that her kids could climb right in when they were done. Afterwards she sat on the bottom bunk, Carmen's and played with the small teddy bear in her hands. It used to be hers and then it was Noah's and he gave it to Carmen shortly after she was born, it had brought tears to her eyes watching her son hand over his most precious stuffed animal. Especially since it had been nearly an entire month of him throwing tantrums from not being the center of attention any more until he came to the conclusion himself that she was there to stay. There had been a transition that Santana had watched, the tipping point being when he cuddled into bed with her and his month old baby sister, clutching the teddy bear to his chest and quietly whispering, "Car, your turn," and gently pressing the fuzzy animal against the baby's chest. She had immediately latched onto his tan hand, gripping it with her pink fingers and his round hazel eyes had turned to Santana wide with fear. But she'd just cooed at the baby, "Carmen, say hi to Noah, he's your big brother." Carmen had simply gargled and tugged his hand towards her mouth.

Santana sniffled softly, rubbing at her damp eyes. Now her babies were growing up so fast. They barreled into the room seconds later, drawing her attention upwards just in time for them to catapult themselves onto the bed with her. She play wrestled them until she was pinned beneath both bodies and sighed in defeat. "Now that you've beaten up your mom, I guess it's time to go to bed, huh?" She was answered with only giggles and cuddles.

As tempting as it was for Santana to lay there and fall asleep, she had cleaning up to do. "C'mon, mi bebes, time for bed." There were some disapproving groans, but Santana playfully wrestled her son into her arms while Carmen giggled at them. Once Noah was up the ladder and diving under the sheets Santana carefully tucked her daughter into her bright pink sheets. "Goodnight Carmen," she whispered, pecking her baby girl on the lips, "I love you."

"I love you too, Mami," she whispered back, tugging the sheet up so that it covered half of her face.

"Sweet dreams," Santana murmured, running her palm over her daughter's hair before straightening up. She climbed the first few rungs on the ladder and grinned at Noah. "You know you can't sleep in that," she told him, tugging on the cape. The young boy sighed, unlatching the collar around his neck and carefully draping it over the edge of his bed. "This too," Santana said with a soft laugh, plucking the mask off his face. "Are you warm enough Mijo?"

The boy in question dove back under his sheets, peeking his head out to flash a lopsided grin, saying, "Yeah."

"You sure?" she eyed him warily. It was the summer, yes, but she knew the house ran a little cool. But her son nodded vehemently and she chuckled, tucking the Justice League sheets round him more securely. "Alright, Noah. Goodnight son, I love you."

Noah relaxed against his pillow and Santana couldn't stop herself from peppering his cheeks with a few more kisses after the nightly goodnight kiss on the lips. He laughed quietly and she pressed a final one to his forehead, ruffling his mohawk. "I love you too, Mami," he whispered leaning up and kissing her cheek.

Santana offered him a sweet smile before climbing down. She paused in the door frame a finger on the light-switch and murmured, "Sleep tight bebes." Then flicked the switch and closed the door quietly behind her.

Regretfully she had to go to the bathroom and fix the problem that Noah had created. She rubbed at her temple and peered into the bowl. With a sigh she searched for her phone, dialing a number that had been memorized many long years ago. It went through on the fourth ring and Santana was met with a somewhat irritated voice.

"Yo, San, what's wrong? You know I'm at work."

"Yeah, I know Puckerman. Just thought you'd like to know what **your son** did before bath time,"

"I don't have time for whatever cute shit he did right now, I'm going to get in trouble. And he's your son too, remember that," he huffed.

"Not when he does shit like this, he inherited your stupidity I swear. He sunk one of his toy boats in the fucking toilet and it's stuck. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?"

A loud groan, "Fuck _really_?" Puck sighed, and Santana could see him pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "You have to use a plunger to un-clog it."

"A plunger… Do we even have one of those?"

"We do, Santana, it's under the freaking **sink**."

"Oh, right, yep there it is," she mumbled, pulling it out from exactly there. She eyed it warily for a quiet moment. "So.. how do I plunge?"

"Wow, no. Don't do it, I'll give a call to the local repair company and they can do it for you."

"What? No way, Puck, I can unclog a toilet! I'm not wasting a ton of money to have some creep ass-hat come into my home with my sweet babies here."

"Fine, fine," he sighed, "Just call me back when you're done so I know things went smoothly alright?"

"Yeah sure, talk to you soon."

"Uh-huh."

After they hung up and Santana tucked the phone into her back pocket she stood in front of the toilet and stared down into the bowl. After a glance to the plunger she shrugged and shoved it down. "How hard can this be?" She muttered to herself, attempting to dislodge the stupid toy boat.

Ten minutes later Puck got another phone call, this time from a frantic Santana screaming over the sound of rushing water. "You broke the toilet?!" He nearly screamed.

"It wouldn't fucking come out! And the plunger snapped and I tried yanking it out and it all just kinda fell apart!" She screamed right back. The initial loud noise of the toilet cracking and shooting water had woken the kids up, and they were currently lingering by the door jam, watching their mother with worried eyes.

"Calm down! Grab towels and a mop to clean up the water, I'm calling the repair guy to see if he can make it over tonight. Hopefully you didn't fuck it up too bad."

"Gee thanks Puck," she snarled.

"You're welcome," he said firmly before hanging up on her.

Santana deflated, her shoulders sagging as she turned away from the toilet. "Oh," she let out a surprised gasp when she realized the kids were standing there. "Hey guys," she said softly.

"Did I break the toilet," Noah whispered, his wide hazel eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"Oh, no, Mijo," she whispered, kneeling down at his feet and taking his hand. She chuckled quietly, "Your silly Mami thought she could fix it by herself. But she forgot, she doesn't know a thing about toilets!" He cracked a small smile at that. "But your dad called someone to come and fix it for us, hopefully they can do it tonight."

He perked up at the mention of his father. "Is he coming home too?"

Santana chewed on her lip, "He's not."

"Oh, okay," the little boy sounded displeased. Of course he would be, every little boy's father was his hero.

"Can you go to the linen closet and get me the mop?" She asked him, poking his stomach. "And you," she grinned at sleepy eyed Carmen, "Can you pick Mami out some PJ's? These are soggy again," she made a grossed out face, sticking her tongue out for full effect. With her children giggling and scampering off to do as she requested, Santana peeked over her shoulder at the mess she had made.

Her phone chimed, signaling a new text message. With the swipe of her finger she let out a relieved sigh, thankfully the repair guy was available. She narrowed her eyes at the screen. "Pierce Family Repairs," she murmured to herself. It sounded familiar. As she read further she realized why, they were the local family that basically made repairs their own home business, all the kids worked with the father. It was kind of charming that they worked together well enough to do that, instead of being one big dysfunctional mess.

With nimble fingers she shot a gracious thank you back to Puck, and a reminder that she wasn't angry at him, her attitude was because of the situation. It wasn't an outright apology for being nasty to him, but it was as good as he'd get. Within moments he was sending another text, telling her that it would only take fifteen minutes for them to come over, and that she shouldn't do anything other than turn off the main water valve.

Of course, Puck got an incoming phone call as soon as she read that. "Where the fuck is it?" she asked frantically.

He paused, scratching his head in thought. "Good question, San."

"Puck!" She nearly screeched, waiving her free hand in the air frantically. "I don't want the damn house to flood, c'mon, you should know this stuff!"

"So should you!" He huffed, shaking his head. "But it should be in the main closet by the door. You know, the one with practically everything?"

"Right. Yeah, I knew that. Thanks Puck." She hung up quickly, nearly barreling over Noah in her haste to get to the closet. She was pulling out the vacuum and trying to lean into the furthest part of the overstuffed closet when the doorbell rang.

With a huff Santana blew strings of wet hair out of her face, sticking her tongue out at Carmen who giggled at her. She tripped over herself trying to come back out of the closet, knocking over the vacuum, and called out, "Just a second!" to the repair man as she caught herself from face-planting, so it came as more of a high-pitched squeak.

After a few more moments of fumbling around she weaseled her way to open the door. When the wood swung back to reveal three people instead of one, Santana took a step back, blinking at them all. "Oh, I wasn't expecting so many people, hi." She offered a small smile.

"Yep," the middle aged man standing front and center spoke first, "With Pierce Family Repairs you get at least two people to come over, we just happened to have a third available this time. All my sons have picked up a single specialty of mine, but Britt here has a knack for _all_ of it," he said proudly, patting his daughter on the shoulder.

Santana's eyes flickered between the three of them. Damn, the Pierces were one heck of a good looking family! It momentarily distracted the Latina, who stood there silent for an awkward moment, before she snapped out of it. "Right, well, thank you so much for coming over as fast as you did. It's kind of a mess already, I was just trying to shut off the main water valve," she explained, ushering for them to enter.

"No worries, it's not that big of a hike. Do you mind if Brent goes and takes a look at the bathroom?"

"Yeah sure, it's just around the corner," she stepped through the kitchen to point it out and the shortest of the three blondes saluted her before heading that way with a grin. Santana turned to the other two, smiling awkwardly.

The eldest offered his hand, "James Pierce, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you too Mr. Pierce," she nodded, shaking his hand firmly before turning to Brittany, saying, "I'm―"

"Santana Lopez," the blonde finished for her, grinning as she shook hands firmly, "I know who you are."

Instantaneously the smile vanished from Santana's face, a low, "Oh," escaping her mouth before she could stop herself. Of course she was known, it was all over town that she got pregnant at eighteen and it was a no wonder that Brittany was aware, they did look to be around the same age.

"Yeah, you were a main factor in bringing the Cheerios a lot of their championships," she continued, as if Santana's reaction hadn't happened even though she gave a gentle squeeze to the Latina's hand before finally dropping it. "Well, I wasn't really there personally or anything, but the papers wrote about it all the time and I heard it from your peers here and there." The blonde gave a sheepish smile, "If I had gone to McKinley instead of being homeschooled I probably would have joined the squad."

"And the Decathlon Team too, you little genius," came the snarky reply of her brother as he rounded the corner. Brent shifted his attention to his dad, saying, "It's a mess in there. I'll grab some tools." He nudged his sister in the ribs as he passed her, telling her, "Quit the chit chat and get that valve shut off too!" before he was headed out the front door.

"Right," Brittany and her father exchanged a look. She turned to Santana, "Where is it?"

"I'm gunna make sure he knows what he's doing, excuse me," James excused himself before following his son out the door.

Santana sighed, closing the door behind the men and jerking her thumb at the previously hidden mess. "Through there," she admitted. Brittany took a moment to size it up before she began clearing away a few things. "Here let me help," Santana insisted, squeezing her way into the space to help. Which she should have thought through, because once they had moved enough things around for Brittany to reach the valve the blonde still had to stretch into the back of the closet. It made for a very tight fit with Santana standing there with her.

Brittany grunted softly, twisting the rusty piece of metal until the pipes rattled and the flow of water was cut off. Once done she swiveled her head to face the Latina, finally realizing how cramped it was in the closet. She straightened up, brushing against the shorter woman only to hear her let out a hiss. "Sorry," she murmured.

"No, I'm just really wet."

"What?" the blonde asked, eyes wide.

Santana, realizing her slip, shook her head, "My clothes! From the water everywhere, I'm kind of drenched."

"Oh," Brittany laughed quietly, "Right."

"Britt you out of the closet yet?" The blonde in questioned rolled her eyes and the two women shuffled awkwardly out of the closet until they could see Brent standing there a smug little smile on his face. "Oh, there you are!" He feigned surprise. "Hi Santana."

"Stop being such a dweeb," Brittany mumbled, tip toeing over the boxes. Hearing something get knocked over she spared a glance over her shoulder to see Santana wide eyed and holding a box that was upside down. She raised an eyebrow.

"I caught it.. but it was already upside down.." Santana flashed a lopsided smile, which had the other two laughing quietly. Brittany extended her hand, and after setting the now empty box on the ground, Santana accepted the help to clamber over the rest of the boxes. "Thanks."

"No problem." They smiled at one another for a moment before they were interrupted by a soft voice.

"Mami?"

The Latina whipped her head around to see Carmen standing there, PJs still grasped in her tiny hands. "Hi there, babygirl," she cooed, flashing a quick smile to the Pierce siblings before going to her child and crouching before her.

"Your jammies," the young girl announced, pushing them into her mom's hands.

"Thanks bebe," Santana murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Carmen settled her hands on Santana's knees, looking past her at the strangers. It took only a second of silent before she spoke again, "They're pretty," mocha eyes clashed and Santana smiled fondly.

"Yes they are, sweetheart. They're here to fix the toilet, that's Brittany and her brother Brent, say hi."

The tiny girl squinted at the blondes for a long moment. Brittany was waving and smiling brightly while Brent stood at his sister's side awkwardly. "Goodnight," she said instead, turning on her heel to head back to the bedroom.

Flabbergasted and embarrassed, Santana looked between her guests and the retreating form of her daughter. "I'm―Wow―Sorry, she's usually a lot more sociable," the brunette rubbed the back of her neck, "But she's a little cranky, getting woken up by a broken toilet and all."

Brittany nodded in understanding, "No biggie. You should get changed though, don't want to be wet much longer without doing anything about it." The two women exchanged subtle smirks, even as Santana's flared with heat.

Though not subtle enough, since Brent found the need to interject, with a drawn out, " _Right_. Britt, let's get to work okay?"

With the Pierce siblings headed to the bathroom for some damage control, Santana slinked away to change. She peeked into her kids' room first and saw Carmen had tucked herself back into bed, but Noah was sitting on top of his bunk as if waiting. "What's up?" She asked him.

The boy leaned his arms against the railing, causing his mother to step forward, brain already processing what to do if he fell. "I heard talking."

"Yeah, dad sent people over to fix the toilet."

He beamed, "Can I say hi?"

"Let them work first and if you're still awake, yes." Noah pouted slightly. "Hey now, none of that nonsense, you're not even supposed to be awake right now." She waggled a finger in his direction until he relented with a sigh and flopped backwards into his pillow. "Try to sleep though, Mijo."

He merely grunted in reply and Santana chuckled under her breath before closing their door. Santana could see Brent was using the discarded mop to clean up the soaked floor, and someone else was bent over leaving Santana conflicted because she couldn't remember which Pierce was wearing those pants, but they seemed to have a really nice ass. Her confusion was ended when the ass accidentally backed up into Brent and he scowled, slapping the wet end of the mop against it, causing an irritated Brittany to whirl around with heated eyes.

"Can you not?" she practically hissed, eyes narrowed into a firm glare.

The short haired blonde raised one hand in defense, "Calm yourself, I slipped."

Brittany glared at him a moment longer until a chuckle drew both Pierce's attention out to where Santana stood. The Latina stilled and wrung the pajamas in her hands for a moment before offering a half-smile and lowering her head as she ducked into her room.

After quickly toweling off and ringing out her hair, Santana pulled on the plaid pants her daughter had picked out, but ignored the brightly pattered top that didn't match. Instead she grabbed a t-shirt, then tied her hair up into a bun, before peeking out of the bedroom door into the nearby bathroom.

"What's the diagnosis?" She asked, gaining the attention of all three Pierces.

James weaseled his way out of the small space and approached her with a smile, saying, "Unfortunately you'll need a new toilet."

Her features fell immediately, "What why?"

He chuckled low in his throat, "Well, Ms. Lopez in your attempt to unclog the toilet it actually cracked, most likely due to age. But it happened in more than one place which is why there was so much water when it began to leak." He noticed the way her face continued to fall, and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder in a comforting fatherly way, "It's not a problem though, just the toilet has been compromised, from what I can tell the piping is fine. So we'll just remove the toilet and cap off the pipes until you can buy a new one. Give a call and I can even put it in for ya if ya'd like."

Santana smiled gratefully, "Well, that's better than having to redo my entire bathroom," she said with a laugh. When there was no reply right away, her laughter trailed off, eyes darting to the two children behind him, Brent looking awkward yet again and Brittany chewing her bottom lip. "Wait," she looked back at James, "Do I?"

He offered a sympathetic look, "You _should_ re-tile the floor." At her questioning look he cleared his throat and continued, "Granted, the water wasn't sitting for long but this isn't exactly the newest house on the block and I wouldn't take any chances with it, mold can grow and that's not something anyone wants, but especially with your young company, it's better to be safe rather than sorry."

Santana squirmed at the subtle mention of her children and nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I agree completely." She wrung her hands, eyebrows scrunching and creasing her forehead, "Until this gets fixed we won't have a bathroom. What am I supposed to do until then?"

James took off his cap and rubbed the top of his head, "Sit tight? Use a friend's?"

Santana rubbed her thumb and forefinger against her forehead and exhaled slowly. "I suppose something can be arranged." She shrugged her shoulders around and looked at the older man again, asking, "So what's next?"

"First decision, you can have us back tomorrow or we stay here for a little while and rip out the toilet.

Santana frowned. Letting them keep working would mean one less night of not having a toilet but the kids wouldn't be able to stay asleep through the racket and be cranky all night and through tomorrow. The Latina rubbed at her forehead again before relenting, she sighed and dropped her shoulders, "I guess you should just come back tomorrow."

"You sure, kiddo?"

Santana smiled softly and pulled her hair down, running her fingers through it while she spoke, "Yeah, it's a little late. We can survive for a bit without use of the bathroom."

"All the water is out of commission for now, until we get the toilet capped off, but we'll come bright and early to do that."

Santana nodded, looking a little defeated though. The Pierces gave her fond smiles and began to file towards the front door. Brittany paused, lingering by Santana, and reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's not too bad. I'll make sure he give you the discount," she told the woman with a bright grin.

The Latina laughed softly, "Thanks."

The two of them headed for the door. But after a few steps, Brittany couldn't help but shyly admit, "I thought you had a son." It had the brunette freezing, and when Brittany realized the woman was no longer beside her she turned and looked at her, features soft and apologetic. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, it's alright. I know how news gets around. I was the biggest gossip in high school, head cheerleader gets pregnant from football player boyfriend, it had practically been a headline in the paper for how much people talked about it." Santana sighed yet again and offered the barest of smiles to the blue eyed woman. "You're right though, I do have a son. Puckerman and I had a little baby boy, a happy little accident that I would never take back. I'm sure you know the story."

Brittany sheepishly looked away, hands in the pockets of her pants and nodded. "Yeah, it's hard to ignore town gossip." She risked a glance up at Santana's face and found her staring back with an expectant look on her face. Brittany swallowed thickly before lowering her eyes to the ground between them. "I know you and Noah Puckerman had been dating at the time but trying to raise your son apparently something happened and you guys decided not to be together anymore?" It sounded more like a question, rather than admittance to what she knew, as she made eye contact again.

Santana nodded in affirmative and Brittany released a small breath. The brunette crossed her arms and straightened her back, continuing the story the woman had begun, "Puck and I raised our son, Noah," Brittany smiled slightly at this information, and the way Santana's eyes lit up at the mention of her son. "We did it together for a while, until we realized that the relationship we had wasn't really what it used to be. We weren't meant to be to be together, it was more familial than anything. Like brother and sisterly love, y'know?" She didn't wait for an affirmative, merely blazed on. "Puck was still cleaning pools at the time and things were really hard for us. We both tried dating people, but nobody wants to get involved with someone with so much baggage to handle. Then one day, Noah's two, spending time with my parents for the weekend, and Puck's over and we're drowning our sorrows in beer and crying over how terrible things were. In a stupid haze of misery and alcohol we wound up in bed together and I landed another bun in the oven. Voila, nine months later we have little Carmen on our hands. She's the ball of sweetness who you so graciously met earlier."

"You love her," Brittany said with a soft smile.

"Of course," Santana replied with an equally soft smile. "They're the best things that have ever happened to me."

"And Puck?"

Santana couldn't help but roll her eyes, "I wouldn't be able to do it without the moron."

"Where is he now?" She asked with an inquisitive tilt of the head.

"Why don't we save that for tomorrow?" Santana suggested with a smirk.

Brittany giggled quietly, bobbing her head up and down. "Deal. Hey, maybe Carmen won't be as grumpy," she grinned.

Santana laughed under her breath, "Yeah, we can only hope."

They paused at the door, Santana leaning against the edge of the wood, hand wrapped on the doorknob while Brittany hovered in the arch of the doorway. "So," the blonde started, awkwardly elongating the word. The Latina quirked an eyebrow and Brittany's cheeks flushed softly as she shifted on her feet. "Well, what time do you want us to come over tomorrow?"

Santana chuckled quietly, resting her temple against the cool wood. "Well, the little monsters wake up early all the time so whenever your family wants to drop in go ahead."

Brittany nodded swiftly and backed up a few steps, "Alright then, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. Bye Santana."

Santana gave a small wave and smile to the blonde, calling out, "Bye Pierce."

The blonde threw a short glare over her shoulder and Santana laughed before directing her eyes passed the woman. She could see Brent lazily propped up against the side of their pickup truck and waved at him, earning a dopey smile in return. Santana rolled her eyes before closing the front door and clicking the lock into place. With a tired sigh she slunk back into the house, exhausted and entirely ready to fall into bed.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again my lovely readers! Yes, I'm still around!
> 
> A big thank you to all my readers and supporters who still favorite/subscribe/comment. I miss writing and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. This chapter has been sitting in my documents for the longest time and I decided to wrap it up and post it for you all to enjoy. I'll be trying to write more often and update a few other stories as well. If anyone would like to see another chapter for any story specifically feel free to comment with the suggestion or send me a message.
> 
> I'd like to point out that someone on FF.net reviewed the last chapter and mentioned the germs involved with flooding. I sent a personal message, but I also wanted the other readers who saw the review and started thinking the same thing to be set straight; the toilet wasn't clogged with any feces or urine (just Noah's Toy), and the flooding was coming from the top part of the toilet where fresh water comes into the basin to go into the bowl so all the water was clean.
> 
> Side note, I don't have all that much experience with kids. Anyone who wants to give me pointers is certainly welcome so that they don't end up sounding too mature. And I also might need someone to bounce ideas off, about what kinds of issues the house will have and such, maybe even some background points. Lemmie know if you're willing to help out

Frustrated. That's what Santana was feeling. She never realized how often one used the bathroom and running water, especially with two kids. The first thing everyone needed to do right after waking up was to pee. Santana had nearly pissed herself by the time she got her colicky children to use the training potty. Noah had been the worst, adamant to use the real toilet like a big boy even as his mother explained over and over that it was still broken. Carmen's only problem had been keeping herself awake enough to stay upright on her tiny perch. And rather humbly Santana succumbed to using the child's toilet―rather than squat in a bush in the yard―while her kids giggled and called her silly.

Santana's next frustration came in the form of hand washing. With no running water it was futile and the eldest Latina scrambled around the house until she found a bottle of hand sanitizer, giving a quick lesson on how to properly and thoroughly "clean" your hands with it. Then the family moved into the kitchen, Santana bringing up the rear, already feeling exhausted. She fixed two tiny bowls of cereal for the kids, watching them from the corner of her eye as she mixed granola into yogurt with sliced strawberries. This was much like every other Saturday morning, but now Santana planned on cooking a little extra, just in case her guests wanted to munch.

Small 'thank you's were murmured as Santana presented a portion of the yogurt to her kids. She smiled tiredly at them and took a moment to sit and eat her share as well. She teased Noah, using her own utensil to steal a bite from his bowl, just to hear his young voice whine, "Mami, you've got yours!" It never failed to make her smile.

It wasn't too much later that the doorbell was ringing. The mother of two turned the stove tops down to a simmer while flipping a pancake onto a plate. She wiped her hands on the dishtowel on her shoulder and approached the front door, "Don't go near the stove," she sternly reminded the children, before unlocking the door and swinging it open, finding three blondes yet again. "Hello," she greeted coolly, "Good morning so far?" she asked, stepping aside to allow them entry while she made her way back into the kitchen.

"Always a good morning at the Pierce household," James said with a hearty laugh.

Brittany caught the brunette's gaze and rolled her eyes in good nature, saying, "Never a dull moment."

"That's for sure," Brent commented with a snort.

Santana laughed softly, a fond smile tugging at her lips. She could only imagine what the busy household could be like. "How many of you are there again?"

"Seven in total," James stated, "Five kids, myself and my gorgeous wife." His beaming smile spoke volumes of the love he held for his family.

Santana whistled, eyes wide. "Damn. You've had your hands full," she chuckled. "I'd like to introduce my own little rascals. This is Noah and Carmen," she pat both on the head, gently ruffling their hair. "Bebes, meet a few of the Pierces."

This caused the blondes to laugh among themselves. Brittany stepped up first, lingering at the corner of the island counter, the two children at the farther end. "Hi, I'm Brittany," she told them, waggling her fingers as a friendly gesture. Then she pointed behind her, "That's my dad, Mr. Pierce and my younger brother Brent."

Noah and Carmen both stayed quiet under the attention, until Santana gave them a gentle nudge. The young boy nodded his head, and looking entirely too serious for his age, parroted back their names, "Mr. Pierce, Brittany, Brent."

Santana rolled her eyes, pushing his shoulder playfully. Carmen glanced between them all, before offering a polite, "G'Morning," and giving a sheepish smile.

While the Pierces murmured back, good mornings and hellos, Santana walked around the island and returned to the stove, pouring more pancake batter into a pan. "I've got plenty of food if any of you would like some. Pancakes, toast, bacon, sausage, some fruits―"

"Trying to impress?" Brent asked with a snicker, which morphed into a whine when his sister's elbow connected to his ribs.

Santana briefly glanced over her shoulder to see Brent pouting and rubbing his ribcage, his sister smirking with a sparkle to her eyes and James shaking his head. "I suppose we could put off working for just a little longer, until we've got some home cooked breakfast in our stomachs, as long as it's no trouble by you, we're here to work afterall" Mr. Pierce said with a wide grin.

"Oh it's no problem, I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it," she told him with a smile. "Mostly everything is cooked, I'm just working on the pancakes. We've got eggs to scramble too. Help yourselves, and feel free to eat in the living room at the coffee table, the island only has room for three."

The males thanked her for her generosity and dove into making themselves each a plate, piling stacks of pancakes and grabbing a little bit of everything else as well. The kids giggled at their enthusiasm. Mr. Pierce graciously thanked Santana again before following his son into the living room.

With a sigh, Brittany leaned her elbows against the counter and said, "Those pigs took all but one pancake."

Santana laughed softly and turned around, sliding the pancake from her spatula onto the single pancake left. "Well then you get the ones still hot off the stove. Aren't you lucky?"

"The luckiest," she said with a cheeky grin.

Santana scrunched her nose and turned back to the stove. How was Brittany so adorable? She shook her head and poured the batter for another pancake. "Mis hijos, are we all full?"

Carmen stayed silent and Noah threw his hands up, fork in one hand, yelling, "More pancakes!" Santana twisted her head, raising an eyebrow. He lowered his hands and mumbled, "Por favor."

"Sure thing little man," she said with a nod, then glanced at the little girl by his side. "Carmen?" She shook her head, dark hair flying everywhere. "Words hija," she reprimanded.

"No!" the little girl huffed, shaking her head again.

"Carmen. Where did your ponytail go? I have to put it up again."

"No!" She whined.

The eldest Latina frowned slightly and stepped away from the stove, rounding the island and leaning down to her level, speaking quietly, "Baby-girl what's with the attitude?" She reached out and brushed hair from her daughter's face, "Your hair is gunna be full of syrup. Can I put it up please?"

Carmen huffed, "Fine."

"Thank you, bebe."

"You know, I could braid it for you, Carmen."

Santana looked up, surprised to find Brittany grinning at the two of them from the other side of the island. She offered a small smile and leaned towards her daughter, whispering, "You want Britt to braid your hair?"

"I'll be gentle, I promise," the blonde cooed. Santana met her gaze, and Brittany smirked back at her adding, "I'm real good with my hands," and wiggling her fingers.

The brunette went slack jawed, eyes widening in surprise from the bold comment. She was snapped from her stupor when Carmen reached out and grabbed at her face, questioning, "Britty?"

It was so innocent and sweet that Santana could feel her heart melting into a puddle. "Yeah, Britty can make braids," she said with a giggle, tickling at her kid's sides until she shrieked with laughter.

"Britty makes braids!" the little girl squealed, twisting her body around to stare at the other woman, lifting her arms and making grabby hands.

The blonde laughed softly and stepped up behind the girl, running her fingers through her dark hair gently to get out snags. "No problemo, chica," she winked at Santana and began working on Carmen's hair.

Santana rolled her eyes and pursed her lips, trying not to smile too wide as she turned back to the stove. This blonde sure was something else. She prodded at the pancake, peeking under to find that it was a little on the burnt side. With a small groan she flipped it and asked, "So does anyone want anything to drink? I have a fresh pot of coffee here."

"Coffee sounds delightful," Brittany purred, earning a quick glance from the Latina.

"I could go for a cup as well, if it's no trouble," Mr. Pierce said, walking from the living room with an already empty plate.

"No problem at all, the pot's already brewed," she reached up into a cupboard and brought down a few mugs. "Help yourself, James. There's milk in the fridge, creamer and sugar next to the pot," she explained with a few flourishes of the hand before going back to the stove to continue making more pancakes.

"Pa, can you pour me a cup?" Brittany asked softly, her attention focused solely on the tiny Latina as she carefully tugged and wove her hair.

Santana watched from the corner of her eye as the two Pierces interacted, James pouring a cup for Brittany and lingering to watch as his daughter carefully braided the child's hair. James even bent down and kissed Brittany's temple, his large hand smoothing over her blonde hair. It had Santana smiling fondly, especially when Brittany flashed her father a grin.

Mr. Pierce grabbed a few more pancakes for himself and his son, but before going back to the living room he stopped beside the eldest Latina. "Thank you again for this breakfast, Santana, it's quite delicious."

"No problem Mr. Pierce, honestly. It's nice to have company over, even if you're just here to fix the toilet," she said with a soft laugh.

He returned the laugh heartily, "Which we'll do as soon as we're done eating, I promise."

Santana smirked and waved him off. Mr. Pierce returned to the living room and Brent's joyous shout of, "More?! Thanks Pa!" was crystal clear.

Santana shook her head and snickered softly, flipping the last pancake to make sure it was cooked through and through. With a final sigh she lifted it from the pan and placed in on the last few pancakes left.

Before she could turn off the stove she poured the scrambled eggs into the pan. In a few short minutes they were golden and Santana dumped them into a big bowl, setting it on the island, for anyone to take. She turned the stove off and made herself a small plate with a little bit of everything and took her seat at the end of the island. She nudged Noah who was just pushing his food around the plate now and asked, "All done bud?"

He gave a small shrug and she smirked, pinching his waist, earning a whine and incredulous look from her son. "Mami stop," he whispered.

"What's wrong Mijo?"

"Nothing," he huffed, string down at his plate. She frowned slightly and stroked the top of his head, running her thumb against the fuzz on the side of his head. She'd interrogate him later when they were alone again.

"Hold on a sec, Carmen, I'm not done yet but I need to have some of this delicious smelling coffee your mom brewed."

"Okay!" the kid swung her legs back and forth and waited patiently while munching on what was left of her food.

Brittany smiled softly and grabbed her coffee mug, taking a large gulp and closing her eyes. While she hummed in approval she missed Santana's curious stare.

"I would have sworn you'd be the kind of person to add lots of sugar and cream to your coffee, not take it black."

Brittany giggled quietly and let her eyes flutter open to look at the other woman as she took another long sip of the dark liquid. She savored the taste before putting down the cup and remarking, "I could say the opposite for you. But there you sit, perfect black coffee ruined with additives and ending up with more milk than coffee."

Santana felt her cheeks burn and she twisted the mug in her one hand, watching the creamy coffee slosh nearly over the side. "Nothing as it seems, eh?" Their eyes met and the women shared a small laugh.

Brittany was done braiding Carmen's hair in a short minute and clapped her hands happily. "There ya go, Carmen, all done!" The little girl grabbed her long braid and stroked it while babbling quietly.

"It's so pretty, Carm," Santana cooed. Brittany flashed a lopsided smile, watching Santana fawn over her child. The Latina smiled at her daughter and scooped a small spoonful of eggs onto each child's plate, saying, "Let them cool, then try some eggs bebes."

Both children groaned and tried to weasel their ways out of it. "C'mon cutie-pies, just a bite or two. Let me feel good about my cooking skills."

Brittany laughed from her spot on the other side of the island now, making herself a tall plate filled with pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. Santana glanced at the plate and then raised an eyebrow in silent question. Brittany grinned widely, explaining, "Braiding makes me hungry."

"Yeah I can see that," Santana said with a laugh, eating her own breakfast.

When Brittany lingered at the edge of the island and didn't join her family in the living room, Santana was surprised. But Carmen was babbling at the blonde, talking about her braids, the food, and anything else her young mind wandered to. And Brittany was staring back at the young one, talking back around mouthfuls of food between sheepish, embarrassed glances at Santana because of the impoliteness of her actions.

The older Latina pointed a finger at Brittany, saying quietly, "Don't go teaching my kids bad manners, Pierce."

"Sorry," the blonde blurted, covering her mouth when she almost spit out food. Her cheeks burned and Santana merely laughed. When the laughter died down they exchanged small smiles.

A few minutes later Brent and Mr. Pierce were reentering the kitchen. Santana turned towards them, "Just put the dishes in the sink, it'll give me something to do while you all work on the bathroom."

"Are you sure?" The elder blonde asked, while his son just dumped his dirty dishes in the sink.

Santana chuckled and nodded, "I'll take care of it."

James grinned at her and set them down. He slapped a hand onto Brent's shoulder, taking a glance at Brittany, before saying, "Brent and I will start ripping out the toilet. Did you want us to take up the tile as well?" When Santana worried her bottom lip between her teeth, James offered a kind smile, "Or that can be done at a later date, I'm just it's something you'd want to talk about with your husband." The Latina visibly flinched at the word and Mr. Pierce awkwardly cleared his throat. "Anyway, like I said last night. We'll rip this broken toilet out and cap the pipes until you can buy a new one. Your water can be turned back on that way. But like I said, mold isn't something you should tempt, so you might want to consider taking up the tile and replacing it. We can help with that too if you'd like."

Santana's eyes were slightly wide. It was a little bit of an information overload, even though she'd heard most of it last night. She nervously wet her lips and looked between everyone, balling her hands together and relaxing them. "Uh, well. I think I'm gunna have to get back to you on that. I've got to call my―" she cut herself off, looking at the children, "their father and discuss.. things." There was obvious discomfort written all over her face and James did his best to smile in an assuring way.

"Right. Come on Brent, let's get started." He ushered his son towards the bathroom.

Brittany glanced up at Santana through her lashes, watching as the Latina nervously wrung her hands together. "Do you want some privacy?" She asked quietly.

Santana jumped, looking a bit startled. She cleared her throat and shook her head slightly. "No it's fine I'm just going to.." she trailed off, grabbing her plate of food and turning to the sink to start cleaning up.

"You've barely eaten.."

"It's fine," the Latina repeated, scraping her portion into the garbage and collecting the dirty pots and pans. Brittany glanced at the kids. Noah was staring at his mother's back with a concerned expression. Brittany pushed her food around the plate for a moment before murmuring, "I'm gunna go help.." And slipped off the chair to grab tools from the truck and returning to join her father and brother in the bathroom.

Once Brittany had passed through again and joined her family, Santana hunched against the sink and squeezed her eyes shut. Of course Mr. Pierce would think she had a husband, it was the respectable assumption after all. No one had two kids by themselves in this small town and no one understood anything past the nuclear family. Her face felt all too hot from the emotions bubbling just under the surface. Her chest felt tight, aching with the sobs that wanted to burst forth.

Santana was pulled from the trap of her own mind when she felt tiny arms wrap around her legs and squeeze. She looked down to see Noah staring up at her with those big hazel eyes. She reached down and stroked that strip of hair on his head before glancing over at Carmen and crouching down. "What's up big guy?"

"Are you sad?" he asked in a small voice.

Santana tried to ignore the stinging behind her eyes. "Why do you ask that Mijo?"

He scrunched his face, resting his hands on her knees and playing with his mother's one larger hand as he talked. "Because Mr. Pierce called Dad your husband, but he's not. And he's not always here. And I know you love him and you miss him but I still don't know if you love love him or not."

Santana couldn't help it, she pulled her son to her chest and buried her face in his little neck as she cried quietly. Noah wrapped his arms around her as best as his little reach would allow, squeezing her as best as he could.

"I'm sorry Mami. I didn't mean to make you cry," he whispered.

"It's okay," she whispered back, taking a long moment before pulling away from him. She flashed a watery smile at him, holding him by the shoulders. "Can you please watch your sister while I go clean up?"

Noah grinned and nodded, about to walk off and do that, but first he paused and planted a wet kiss on his mother's cheek and hugged her quickly around the neck, whispering, "I love you."

Santana nearly got choked up again, she squeezed him tightly, whispering a cracked, "I love you too," before releasing him so he could keep an eye on Carmen who just about had it with her breakfast. Santana watched him watch her for a moment before walking away. At first she headed for the bathroom, as per usual, but detoured into her room because she couldn't possibly go in there and interrupt with a swollen tear-stained face. She rummaged through her vanity and took a minute to clean herself up before returning to the kitchen to finish the dishes.

She had to take a small break to round the kids into the living room and keep them busy with a movie once they were done eating so they were occupied while she finished gathering the dirty dishes and debated calling Puck or not. Santana finally settled on yes she had to call him again. She worried her lip between her teeth before punching in the number she knew by heart.

It rang and rang.. and rang. She could feel her heart lurch into her throat, it always did when he didn't answer. She left a short message, just asking for him to call back when he got a chance, that nothing was wrong with the kids and he didn't have to worry. She fiddled with the phone between her hands for a long while, staring down at it without truly seeing. It scared her when he didn't pick up, even though she knew he wasn't actually in any danger. But she had an imagination that could run wild sometimes, and it usually did so with the worst scenarios possible.

The harsh sound of cracking porcelain drew her back into the moment and she hurried to the bathroom. She paused in the door jam, finding two sets of blue eyes staring back at her and the owners smiling sheepishly as they had half her toilet cradled between them. By the looks of it, the tank cover had slid off, landed and cracked in half. Santana breathed out a sigh of relief and shook her head, stepped off to the side to let the siblings pass through the door slowly. "I was worried for a second," she said through a laugh, catching Brittany's eye.

The two females shared a moment of prolonged eye contact as the siblings shuffled through. James came up and put a hand on her shoulder, smiling sheepishly. "I know what it's like raising kids. Hearing a big crash and in that moment your heart stops, just for a second." Santana smiles slightly, glad to hear someone else put it into words. "They could have been right in front of you, and still you would have come running to check."

Santana laughed under her breath and nodded, "Thanks Mr. Pierce."

"Please," he crouched and grabbed the two halves of the lid before standing, "Call me James." He flashed a broad grin while exiting the bathroom. Santana watched him, leaning up against the door jam. He must have been a great dad when all the Pierces were young. She smiled to herself and stepped up to the pipes sticking out of the ground. Santana nudged a few loose tiles around them with her toe, watching them lift and squinting down at it. She got chills thinking about what kind of gross mildew or mold could potentially grow underneath flooded tiles. It was an old house, nothing was certain to be perfect. And James Pierce had a good point about raising kids in such circumstances. She was definitely better off re-tiling the bathroom. She glanced around the small space. How much would that cost? Could they splurge on getting a new sink while they're at it? She sighed, rubbing her arm and shuffling out of the bathroom.

She smacked right into someone, bouncing off and stumbling. Strong hands on her upper arms stopped Santana from tumbling backwards completely. "Sorry," she exhaled, suddenly breathless as she stared up into sparkling, bright eyes.

"It's fine," Brittany assured her with a soft smile. Her grip tightened for a moment, a gentle squeeze as she asked, "You alright?"

Santana blinked owlishly at her companion. She took a long moment to respond, eventually uttering a quiet, "Yeah."

Brittany tilted her head, stepping imperceptibly closer to the other woman. But Santana thought she could literally feel the space between them diminish, the warmth radiating from Brittany not just the hands on her body but the chest so close to her own. "Are you sure?" she heard the blonde murmur. Santana just shook her head, earning a concerned look from Brittany. "What's wrong?"

She swallowed thickly, trying to get her thoughts in order. It was hard with the other woman filling her personal space, looking all concerned with kind eyes and a reassuring squeeze here and there. Santana closed her eyes. "Yeah, no, I'll be fine." She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. "Just a lot on my mind." Brittany seemed to be studying her face now, thumbs stroking Santana's biceps. It made Santana close her eyes again and take a deep breath. "Brittany―" Her words were cut off by the sound of a phone ringing. "Sorry," she lowered her head and stepped back, fishing the cellphone from her back pocket and checking the caller ID. "I have to take this," she insisted, immediately hitting accept and bringing the phone to her ear. "Puck," she swallowed, "hi."

Brittany shuffled on her feet for a moment before catching Santana's eye and signaling she was going to the other room. Santana nodded, smiling politely as she listened to Puck asking her if everything was fine and if the kids were safe.

"Yeah, yeah, they're okay I told you that in the message."

"Oh, I just saw a missed call and rang as soon as I could. What's up then?"

She rolled her eyes but smiled despite her annoyance, it was a typical Puck move. "So like the Pierces are here taking out the toilet and James brought up a good point. He wants to know if we're going to replace the floor tiles. Like the water wasn't sitting long but he talked about mold and shit and it freaked me out."

"Chill San, I get it. Protective Mama Mode has been activated," he teased with a laugh. "He has a point, and you know I want what's best for the kids, always. I know I'm not around all the time, but you know better than anyone what those punks mean to me. I'm doing this for them, and to help you and if you think we need to redo the bathroom to make it safe for them, the fuck it San, we'll do it."

Her throat felt tight, eyes prickling with tears as she choked out a simple, "Yeah?"

"You know it. We might not be a couple but we're still doing this together. The Air Force was my best bet, I couldn't support you guys cleaning pools and banging cougars. And it sucks that I can't be home more for right now, but we've got this, okay?"

Santana had been nodding to herself, absentmindedly chewing on her thumb nail. "Yeah, we got this," she echoed.

"So do it, San, work with the Pierces and replace the floor tiles or whatever else we need to do to make sure our kids are safe as can be."

"Should we do stuff like get a new sink too? Like what if that's the next thing to break?"

Noah was quiet for an extended amount of time until he answered, "Maybe not, you know the saying, if it aint broke don't fix it. We're not made of money and I know how much it kills to go to your parents for financial help. So let's keep our focus on what exactly needs to be fixed, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, you're right, that makes sense."

"Alright cool. They're a good family, and I'm sure they'll give us a discount since it's turning into a small project."

"That's good," she breathed.

There was a brief bout of silence between them, just the crackle of their connection and breathing, before Puck's voice came through again, quiet and tender, "How are you doing?"

Santana could feel her throat constricting again. "I'm managing," she told him.

"That doesn't sound too great, San."

She wasn't used to him speaking to her with such tenderness and care. It made her tear up again. She glared at the ceiling, willing herself to stop being so emotional. "It's just… I got so used to everyone knowing my business and now the Pierces are here and they're sweet but they don't seem to know anything about me and there's just some questions and assumptions going around and I don't know how to deal with that Puck. I'm not good with people. Ugh. I just. I guess I need to get out more. Maybe I'll ask Maribel to watch the kids so I can go out soon."

"Take it easy San. I night out would probably do you some good, ask your mom and see what she'll do for you. The Pierces are really cool, I swear to you. They've helped me out in the past with odd jobs and they're real good people. You haven't scared of Britt have you? 'Cause if not, try to be friends with her, she'd do you some good."

Santana rubbed her forehead, "I'm playing nice, promise. They do seem like a nice family, I shouldn't freak out. Alright, yeah, I've got this, no worries. I'll let you get back, okay?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, yeah, get back to work, it's fine."

"Alright San, good luck with the bathroom. Text me some updates and I want a picture when it's re-tiled."

She gave a little laugh, "Sure, no problem Puck." They said a quick goodbye and Santana took a few deep breaths to prepare herself before she had to face anyone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed (:

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if there's anything specific you want to see happen to the Lopez household, in means of how it "falls apart" or what goes wrong next.


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